NEWS

Emissions from biomass burning cross the Himalayas

Source: The Hindu, Date: April , 2015

Contrary to the general assumption that the southern slopes of
the Himalayas act as a barrier and effectively block the transportation of
pollutants from India and other parts of South Asia, a study published a couple
of days ago in the Nature Group journal Scientific Reports finds sound evidence
to prove otherwise. Aerosols have been found to rise and cross the entire range
of the Himalayas. So much so that studies conducted in the northern slope of
the Himalayas at an elevation of 4,276 metres above MSL could find markers
distinctive of pollution arising from India and other regions of South Asia.
Local meteorological conditions and regional atmospheric flow process have been
the two major factors enabling the pollutants to cross over, notes Zhiyuan
Cong, the first author of the paper from the Institute of Tibetan Research,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.